BOLTON Wanderers are seeking to make up to 17 staff redundant as part of continuing cost-cutting measures after relegation at the Reebok this summer.

The Bolton News understands that chief scout Colin Harvey has left the club, with other changes expected in the next few weeks.

This follows the departures of chief executive Allan Duckworth and goalkeeping director Fred Barber, which were announced back in May.

And in a separate development, unrelated to the costcutting measures, commercial director Gareth Moores is no longer working at the Reebok after his sudden departure from the club last week.

A meeting was called by chairman Phil Gartside last week to inform employees of the plan, which identified 17 positions as being “at risk” of redundancy before a period of formal consultation.

Wanderers are looking to cut their cloth accordingly following the end of an 11- year run in the top flight, which carries with it an estimated shortfall of about £30 million.

The club maintains that plans to rationalise were in place regardless of the division they were playing in next season, and that the criteria set down in FIFA's incoming “financial fair play” rule has also required costs to be scaled down.

On the playing front, Owen Coyle has already cut £25 million from his wage budget through the release of 15 out-of-contract players over the summer, and has outlined plans to increase the number of home-grown players used by the club in the future.

The latest staffing cuts come just a month before the start of the new season and include the vastly experienced Harvey, who had been with the club for the last four years.

The Everton legend was recruited by Gary Megson in 2008 as part of a massive overhaul of the backroom staff in the aftermath of Sam Allardyce’s departure.

It is also understood that the club have appointed a new chief operating officer, Bradley Cooper, who formerly occupied a senior post at Deutsche Bahn UK.

Cooper will go in at a similar managerial level as Duckworth, who recently ended his 14-year association with the club.

Christian Spence, the research manager at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “It is never a happy occasion when any business implements redundancies in its workforce.

“Businessmen do not go into business to take people out of their employment , but the ability to flexibly alter the number of your employees is vital if companies are able to restructure themselves to ensure their long-term survival.”